Classics & Ancient History

This course provides close reading and analysis of Aristophanes’ Frogs, focusing on the prescribed material for the OCR A-Level in Classical Greek. All passages are presented in the original Greek with a facing English translation, while...

In this course, Dr Armand D’Angour (University of Oxford) explores the use of music in ancient tragedy, thinking in particular about the kinds of musical instruments that were used, the metre, rhythm, and melodies of tragic poetry. The course ends...

In this course, Dr Rosie Wyles (University of Kent) provides a critical study of three plays of Aristophanes – The Acharnians (425 BC), The Knights (424 BC) and Peace (421 BC) – in their theatrical, religious, social, and political context. In...

In this course, we explore the prescribed section of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book 3.511-733). In particular, we think about the depiction of Pentheus and the humour contained in that episode, before exploring the many ways in which this section of...

In this course, Prof. Edith Hall (King's College, London) provides an introduction to the plays of Aristophanes, thinking in particular about the world that Aristophanes lived in and his comic output and focusing in particular on: the link between...

In this course, Professor Neville Morley (University of Bristol) explores Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, focusing on the key episodes in the text and thinking in particular about some of the historiographical issues that modern...

In this course, Professor Edward Harris (University of Durham) explores Lysias’ speech Against Simon, a case apparently concerning a fight between two men over a boy, Theodotus. In particular, we think about the rule of law in ancient Athens, the...

In this course, Dr James Morwood (University of Oxford) explores Euripides’ Hippolytus, a play in which the goddess Cypris, takes revenge on Hippolytus for his refusal to worship her. As we move through the course, we focus on six scenes...

In this course, Professor Richard Seaford (University of Exeter) explores the importance of ritual and religion in Greek tragedy. Having begun with a discussion of the god Dionysus and his cult in Attica, as well as the supposed origins of...

In this course, Dr Oliver Thomas (University of Nottingham) explores Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, the first part of Aeschylus’ great trilogy, the Oresteia, which was first performed in Athens in 458 BC. After a brief introduction to the trilogy as a...

In this course, Professor Philip Hardie (University of Cambridge) explores the sixth book of Virgil’s Aeneid. Beginning with a discussion of the place of Book 6 in the poem as a whole, we then go through the whole of Book...

In this course, Dr Llewelyn Morgan (University of Oxford) explores the poetry of the Roman poet Catullus. In particular, we think about Catullus as a poet who combined the innovative and subversive with the traditional and conservative.